Hidden
by PaigeClearwater
Summary: Abused twins, Vincent and Dylan, are adopted by the Cullen family, who strive to hel them of their emotional scars. PBD
1. Chapter 1

Characters:

Francesca- dyed red (original blonde), brown eyes, spoiled girl, 16, straight d student, gets a lot of detentions

Clark- blonde, brown eyes, spoiled boy, 17, held back twice, been arrested for vandalism

Vincent(Vince)- brunette, blue-green eyes, abused boy, 14(twin), straight A student(usually to avoid pain) flawless record, suspected of some kind of problem at home, main voice of the 2, muscular, smart, hardworking, reasonable, open

Dylan(Dill)- brunette, bright blue eyes, abused girl, 14(twin), straight A student(to avoid pain) flawless record, suspected with her brother of a problem at home, observant, usually quiet, smart, strong(emotionally), shy, stubborn(except with Vincent), afraid of reliving her experiences

Dylan's POV

"Please Father, don't, please!" "An A minus is not good enough young lady! I expect more of you!" I gasped sharply. This was going to be even worse than usual. He must have had a bad day at work. "You deserve everything that's coming to you!" I felt his steal toed boots come into contact with my ribcage. I grimaced, but I never screamed anymore. If I screamed, he would just get madder. I heard noises and knew that it was about to get much much worse. "Ah!" I didn't scream, but the yelp escaped me when he whacked me with his belt. He repeatedly hit me, not looking for any specific target. My back, thighs, and chest were probably going to bleed soon. He kept going, and then it stopped. Was it over? I t was harsher than normal, but not for as long. I sat up from my position, cringing from pain, and saw what he was doing. "Please Father, anything but that! Please!" I begged. "You deserve this Dylan. You know what you should do, and you failed me again. After everything I've done for you and you mess the one thing I expect of you up? That's not going to work. Actions have consequences." I wanted to, needed to run, but if I did, he'd catch me, and it would be so much worse. He took the rope and dragged me by my hair to the wooden pole set up in the corner of the room. "You'll stay here until I come back. If you try anything, you'll regret it." He tied me tightly with the rope, standing up. He punched me right by my eye. It would definitely bruise. He turned off the lights, and I heard the door lock. Last time this had happened, I had been left in here for 3 days without food, water, or access to a bathroom. But it was a Wednesday, I had school tomorrow, and then next week started Christmas break. I flinched. He was still my father. He could call and tell them I was sick or something. Maybe, since it had taken so long and so much effort that Vincent could slide tonight without the wrath of our father. He'd still be hungry because they only gave us food when necessary, but he wouldn't have any new injuries going on the ones he had gotten yesterday.

They never really cared, about Vincent and I that is. We were twins. They spoiled our older siblings, who were probably not going to go to college, let alone graduate high school. My sister Francesca was a straight D student, who was 1 detention away from getting expelled. She nearly always missed curfew, but my father didn't care. "Try not to do it again." My brother, Clark, had been held back twice, and been arrested more times than I could remember. Vincent and I did our best to be the absolute perfect kids. We tried our best to get straight A's, if we could help out around the house, we would, anything we could do to help, we did. We thought that maybe if Mother sees us helping, she'll acknowledge us, and maybe Father will lighten up on us, just a little. We don't know why they do this to us.

I heard a thump from upstairs. Vincent. Be strong; don't let them get to you. You're strong and you're tough. You can get through this. Maybe, if he lets me go with Vincent to our room, the shed in the backyard, tonight, we could escape. No, no you can't, father always padlocks the door! Come on Dylan, be like Devon! Devon was a character that Vincent and I had made up, Devon and her twin Vance. They were tough, and they always took their consequences, never complaining, always being strong. Whenever we thought about them, we felt strong. It helped a lot to feel strong, to pretend, even for a moment that I wasn't as weak as to ever cry after.

Francesca and Clark would pretend not to notice our consequences, but occasionally if they are in a giving mood, and it was a bad day, would give us a bit of food or some gauze and Aleve, even some of their old clothes! I was so happy when I got some old jeans and a few t-shirts. Francesca always talked about going shopping with her friends. I've never been shopping, not even at a grocery store. Whenever my mother would go, she's lock Vincent and I in our room AKA the back shed. The only thing I had ever heard my mom say to anyone was, "They should be seen, but not heard." After that we never talked in front of anyone but each other again, my father ensured that. The only place we could talk was at school if directly spoken to, in the "dark room" as I called my current location, and when mother and father weren't home.

The door opened. "Dylan. I told you to not move." "I didn't move Father I promise!" "You're a centimeter off from where you were before!" "But..." The rope was untied, and I was pulled out to the other corner. "Kneel. One hour, if you're lucky." I kneeled down on the sugar and rice mixture, feeling them cut into my knees. I did that for an hour, feeling every minute like I was about to break, but I wouldn't. Once, he had made me lay in it. I let Devon take over, and pulled all my strength into that hour, which then turned into 3. Then my father finally came and dragged me out in the rain to the shed, shoving me in, and locking it behind.

"Dylan! Oh my gosh. You've haven't been gone for this long since summer. I was so worried. What happened?!" Vincent rushed. He scooped me up, and placed me on my old, worn mattress. He rushed over, and started tending to my injuries. I explained as he worked, and flipped when needed. "What about you Vincent? Was it as bad as yesterday?" "No it was a little better. Just a kick and closet today. I already handled it. Nothing severe." "Kick where?" "Head, but no injury. I checked." "Fine." I checked to make sure there wasn't any damage. "Vince, can we run away?" "You know we can't, with what happened last time. We can't. He'd kill us."

We did our homework, checked each other's twice, quizzed each other on all the tests and quizzes we had tomorrow, and went to bed.

"Wake up, Dylan. It's just a dream." "Sorry. I don't deal with it as well as you do." "Not true. He's always harder on you." "Whatever. Let's get ready." We got dressed, and I did my best to cover the bruise on my face with my hair. I wasn't ever given makeup, because it was expensive. My sister wore it, but I never got to. We went to school, and went through the day exactly as we usually do. Talk when spoken to; study in free time, and try to stay hidden, the less attention the better. When we got home, father was already there. I didn't have pole or rice, but it was a lot longer with fists and shoes, and the belt plus his new favorite, duct tape. My arms and leg were totally hairless now. Vincent once again claimed he got off easy, but I think he was lying to spare me of feeling weak.

At school, I got called into the principal's office. I was going to die when I went home. Father was going to kill me. "Dylan, your brother Vincent collapsed in 3rd period. He's been rushed to the hospital. We will drive you there to be with him." Oh no. I knew he was lying! Why was I so naïve as to believe him? Just because he's like, 2 minutes older doesn't mean that he has to protect me from everything! I should have helped him more! I'm the worst sister ever!

Vincent was in a hospital bed, with an IV set up. He was unconscious. His assigned doctor, Dr. Smith, a pediatrician, came in and told me what they suspected happened. Vincent passed out from hunger, and the bruises and injuries all over his body suggested abuse. We were not going to be allowed back in our parents' custody, and Francesca and Clark were staying with someone with social services until they could figure out what the problem is. "Come talk to me when you are ready. Just tell a nurse and they will escort you to my office. You and your brother may discuss beforehand." I wonder if they thought it was just Vincent. They hadn't tried to examine me yet. No one had asked me anything. I would have to keep my jacket on. The rope burns were still visible, and my skin was still a bit red from the duct tape. I would talk with Vincent when he woke up. He'd probably want me to tell them, but I was afraid. Father will definitely find out, and then he'd…

About 2 hours later, Vincent woke up. I explained what was happening, filling him in on every detail, and he listened quietly, hardly believing. "Dylan, you should tell. Devon would." Of course he would hold that above my head. "Well maybe Vance wouldn't want to. He might be afraid of the consequences." Dr. Smith walked in. "Am I interrupting?" "No sir. It's fine. I'll wait outside." I went in the hallway and counted the ceiling tiles. They had been like that for 45 minutes. There were 125 tiles in the hallway that I was able to see. I really hope Vincent respected my opinion and would let me decide to tell anyone. I wasn't ready, because if I admitted it, it would become so much more real. "You can come back in now Dylan."

Dr. Smith left after I was in the room, and he courteously closed the door on his way out. "What did you tell him?" "Nothing more than he already knew." "Such as?" "I'm covered in injuries and I'm in pain." "Are you sure?" "Our home life didn't come up at all. Dylan, please. We need to tell someone. If we don't, we'll have to go back, and you know what will happen." "But, Vincent, they'll find us. Just like just like..." "No they won't. This time it will be different. We won't be 2 11 year olds running away from home. We'll be placed in foster care. I'm sure if we request it, they can get us moved far away from them." "But…" "Please, Dylan, for me. For you. For us. We could save our lives, or doom them. I can't believe that you're even considering the latter." I was terrified. They would find us, they always did. I don't want a repeat of the past. I still had nightmares, and this time, I don't think he'd ever stop. I started hyperventilating. "Calm down. It'll be okay, I promise. Just relax." It took me 3 minutes to get my breathing back under control.

"You ready?" Vincent asked. He was about to push the button. I nodded weakly. This was going to be the worst right? No we'd have to go to court, and then father would probably lose it the second he saw us and… Vincent tugged me down the hallway after the nurse. I started walking now. We were just passing the waiting room. I froze. Father was 6 feet away. Vincent didn't notice. "Dylan, come on." He said. He said it too loud. Father turned and saw us.

"Get over here you two. NOW!" I couldn't move. I was glued to the spot. I couldn't run, I couldn't even speak. He charged at us, and yanked my jacket until it was ripped into pieces. He grabbed my hair and started pulling me. Then I found my voice. "NO, PLEASE! NO!" He whispered in my ear, "You're. not. Supposed. To. Speak. Unless. Spoken. To." He kicked me in the ribs, and finally the crowd subdued him.

I had been involuntarily carried to a room by someone, and examined by Dr. Smith. I had a lot of bruises, a broken rib, and all of my other injuries that were going to be "tended on." Vincent silently watched in the corner, a frown of worry on his face. I was going to get chewed out just like I chewed him out. I hadn't told him about the duct tape or the ropes. Dr. Smith finally stopped working, and forced some pain medicine down my IV that made me sleepy. "Chill Dylan. We can't deny it anymore." Vincent said.

He had told them. Vincent had spilled our life stories to a complete stranger. Dr. Smith has gotten us into state custody and a restraining order against our parents. Our older siblings came to visit us, and were asked to be examined. They didn't need to be, confessing that they were never hurt by our parents. They told their sides of the story, and I was the only one who hadn't. They were placed in foster care, but the hospital was holding off on letting Vincent and I go.

I had been in the pediatric room when I overheard someone say something about "long term affects" and "mental states". We had gone through a psychiatric evaluation, which we passed. Dr. Smith said that it was in our best interest to go to therapy to talk about it. We went once every day. Vincent actually talked in his. I don't understand how. Why would I tell anyone, no matter how much I trusted them, about what I had faced every day, and how I hadn't been strong like my brother? I never saw Vincent with anything broken, or at least, never seen him cry about any of it. Vincent was the strongest person I had ever known. He never cried. He was exactly what Father wanted, someone he could push around that wouldn't whine or cry or tell. Except that I was here. I inspired him to tell. I was the one who was afraid, but by knowing that father would hurt me, Vincent did everything he could to stop it. As long as we couldn't get caught. But even Vincent didn't know what I had done for him.

The last time Father had given us our punishments in the same room, Vincent had passed out from a particularly hard blow. I had begged Father to start giving me both of our punishments, but he would only agree to give me half of Vincent's. That was when the basement had officially become "the dark room." I was to report there the second I got home from school, and had to be there before Father if I wanted a chance of getting it easy. While I was in there by myself, I was to organize all of the instruments, and replace anything that needed replacing, or at least write it down. I took half of his hour. I had an hour and a half, and he had half an hour. It was better like that. I could be helpful; I could make a difference for my brother. I couldn't talk about that. It would crush Vincent. He just thought I annoyed Father more. He never knew that I had traded.

Besides, no one would want to listen anyway. Who would care about me? I wasn't important. I didn't matter. I was useless. No one would want to listen to me and my petty problems. Father reminded me of that every day.

The therapist, who told me to call her by her first name, Cheryl, questioned me, but I always answered the same, as long as it was appropriate. "That question makes me uncomfortable" or just didn't answer. She didn't need to see inside my head.

Dr. Smith and Cheryl had discussed with us where we will be going. Well, they discussed with Vincent while I listened and commented only twice in the entire conversation. To simplify it, Dr. Smith wanted us to stay with someone who could handle us and our extra baggage. We needed to be placed in a family willing to deal with long nights, with at least 1 member having some kind of experience in dealing with "kids under special circumstances". None of the foster homes in the area were fitting to those standards, besides; they thought that a more permanent residence would help us more. In short, they wanted us to be adopted into an accepting family with some experience about kids with rough pasts as soon as possible. They said that as soon as they found someone eligible, they would speed up the process as much as they could possibly do. After I had said that to clarify, Dr. Smith had rushed off after a younger looking doctor headed to the ER.

We went to our rooms and slept. I had been in here for about a week, and it still felt strange to not be constantly covered in new injuries. I slept easier because I didn't have to find a new position to stop pain every single night. I woke up all the time though; my nightmares had gone rampant since I got here. One of the nurses had gotten me a teddy bear from the gift shop saying that it would help, but hugging a fake bear trying to shake off my years of suffering wouldn't work. The only thing I could do to keep them away was the most obvious decision: don't sleep. It was the only way to assure they wouldn't come. A restraining order wouldn't stop Father. He wasn't afraid of the law. He was supposedly in jail already, but he probably had weaseled out and no one wanted to tell me because they didn't want to scare me.

"Vincent, Dylan, this is Dr. Cullen. He would like to talk to you." Dr. Smith said, and left the room. "Hello, I'm Carlisle. You can call me whatever you want, I don't mind. I heard about your situation, and I'd like to ask you something." "Ask away." Vincent replied. "Well, my wife and I have 8 adopted children, but they're older, and we are all interested in bringing some younger kids into our home." "We aren't that young, we're 14." The corner of his mouth twitched, like a smile. "Well, younger than my kids. Anyway, we were wondering if you'd be interested in having us adopt you. We want to consult you first; we don't want to force you into anything. It's your decision." Carlisle left the room, and Vincent turned to me.

"Well Dill, what do you think?" "Might be risky. He seems nice but you can never be sure about people. The only time people don't lie is when they're in the comfort of their own home. But I am getting sick of the hospital. I want to leave, but I'm not risking our entire future because I'm bored." "Agreed, with the last one I mean. Everything we think we know is wrong Dylan, we've learned that now. We knew it was weird for us to live like we did, but our notions on other people might be wrong. We should give them a chance." "Are you sure you want to take a chance this big?" "I don't know, but I feel like we'd be okay. Please, I don't want to make this decision without you backing me up. Do you want to sleep on it?" "Maybe, I don't know Vince; it just seems a bit… fast." "Dill, you're such a pessimist. A nice guy, who can get us out of here quickly, comes and asks us if we want to be adopted, and you think it's a scam!" "Vince, you're my light in the dark, and I'm your reality check." He rolled his eyes. "Just think about it okay? Really consider the possibility." "Fine."

I seriously thought about it, but I still wasn't 100% sure that we should go. Do I really want to risk possibly having to relive my previous experiences? I wasn't fully against it, but I still felt the need to resist. I'll let chance decide my fate. Flip a coin, either way Vincent will talk me into it anyway. Heads I approve, tails I don't. 1…2…3! Heads. I approve. "Vince, I've decided."

When Carlisle came back, I let Vincent do all the talking. I listened intently, hearing nothing against my opinions. I was more of a listener anyway. I watched Carlisle. He seemed very charming, smiling broadly when we told him yes. Maybe he was genuinely a good person. I wasn't staring, only looked when he spoke. He said it would take about 3 days to finish all of the paperwork; they had done most of it before because they had wanted to get us settled. "Excellent, I'll have my family start preparing your rooms immediately. They will be very pleased. We'll bring you to your new home in 3 days."

This was really happening. I was going to possibly reenter the darkness, or have my first real experience in the light. My entire future was now going to depend on my life with the Cullens.

Vincent trusted them, why couldn't I? What if they didn't like me? What if they only like Vincent? What if they don't like Vincent? What if… what if… No more what ifs. Don't let your imagination get the best of you. Get a grip Dylan!

Carlisle had stopped by and introduced us to his family 2 days before we would officially join them. They all seemed nice. I introduced myself, and mostly watched. The bronze haired guy, Edward seemed into Bella, the brunette, and was watching Renesmee, the curly bronze hair girl, who was standing by Jacob, the tan muscular guy. The blonde girl, Rosalie, was hanging over the muscular pale guy, Emmett. The blonde boy who grimaced when he entered the room, Jasper, was holding hands with the small spiky haired girl, Alice. Carlisle's wife Esme looked at us kindly, but occasionally stole a glance at Carlisle with a kiss, or to murmur something to her kids under her breath. Edward glanced my way on occasion, and at Vincent, but he looked more annoyed when he looked at me. I knew it. They didn't like me! Did I do something? The only thing I said was "Hi, I'm Dylan." The Jasper guy looked at me funny, and then at Edward. All of this happened while they had casual conversation with Vincent. They left a bit later and I had Vincent alone.

"What did you think?" I asked. "They seemed nice; they didn't throw any red flags if that's what you mean." "Seriously? Vince, I think they're all, like, couples. They were like hanging all over each other." "Are you sure? Carlisle seems loose, but not that loose." "Well, um, I'm just telling you what I saw, my observations aren't always fact. Plus, I don't think Edward or Jasper like me." "Why do you think that?" "Whenever they looked, they seemed annoyed." "I'm sure they're just wondering why you're so quiet. You really should talk more." "Talking isn't really my thing. You know that better than anyone." "Fine, go to sleep chatterbox." Vincent was so annoying sometimes.

They were coming to pick us up today. They had finished building our rooms, and we were going to their house. How had they finished so fast? These people were either extremely rich, extremely strange, or both. By looking at their clothes, the rich part was spot on. We got into Carlisle's black Mercedes S55 AMG. I didn't know. Vincent told me. I knew 1 thing, it was expensive.

He drove fast, like a race car driver. We went through a blur of trees, and in 10 minutes, we were in front of this absolutely beautiful mansion. A fantastic garden surrounded the entire house, and there was a stream running close by. It looked too perfect, the lawn was perfectly manicured, the house was perfectly clean on the outside, and everything about it was amazing. The other cars pulled in behind us, and Carlisle opened the door.

The inside of the house was just as stunning as the outside. Everything was luxurious, beautiful, and extravagant. Everything in the room looked like it costed 3 billion dollars! Carlisle led us up the stairs and showed us a peek and explanation to everyone's rooms. I knew it. They _were_ together. Carlisle led us to the end of the hallway. Our rooms were right next to Esme and Carlisle's room. Mine on the left, Vincent's on the right. They had to have been guest bedrooms. "So each of you have your own bathroom with a shower inside of the closet. Just open the door in the back and there it is. Go on in. Call if you need anything."

I opened the door and I think my heart stopped for a second. Not only do I now have my own room, inside the actual house, but I have a room that's probably bigger than my old house. There was a giant canopy bed covered in a large fluffy purple, orange, pink and black bed set. The walls were white with a black stencil pattern, and there was a TV mounted on one wall. The furniture was a mixture to match the bedspread. The bed frame was black, and the dresser was black. Closet door was black, and the chandelier, yes there was a chandelier, was a mixture of purple, pink, and orange. I went in the closet. There were about 5 outfits in it that looked like they had guessed my size. It was almost as big as the room, and accented the same, but instead of a colorful chandelier, the ceiling was aligned with colorful lights across the room. There was a giant mirror. I went into the bathroom, and saw the colors continue. It was beautiful. I was silent the whole time; I had never even seen anything so grand in my life, let alone received it. These people hardly knew me, and had given me all of this. I was deeply moved by their kindness.

I heard Vincent cheer every few minutes. I waited a little while, and gave the room a closer examination. The bathroom had an awesome shower that could attach to an iPod and it was huge. The main room had a desk for homework, and on it were an iPod, a laptop, and a cell phone! At this point, I whispered a "Thank you" to just no one. Even if God was the only one who heard, I still felt like someone would hear. I just needed to get it out of my system at that moment. It had been building up since Vincent woke up in the hospital. There was a knock on the door.

"Hey, can I check out your room?" Vincent asked. "Sure." He looked around for about 5 minutes. "This is awesome. Come see mine." Vincent's room was the same size and layout as mine, with a different color scheme. His room was a navy blue and white color; the walls were white, with a TV on 1 wall. His bed was the same size as mine, but just a regular bed, not a canopy. It had a navy blue spread, with a white accent and it wasn't stuffed with pillows or stuffed animals like mine. Good thing, I loved Vincent, but he couldn't clean his side of the room without my help. His closet was the same size as mine, and his bathroom was a reflection, but with different colors. They were more guy colors; it had red and forest green accents throughout that I had missed. He had a phone and stuff to. "This is awesome Vince. We should probably go downstairs and say thanks." "Lead the way." "Um, you lead. This house is huge, I'll get us lost."

"We just wanted to say thank you for all of this. We are really grateful." Vincent said. "No problem sweetie, we wanted to do it for you. So, I'm sure you've looked in your closets. We had to guess sizes, and you're going to need more clothes. How about we go shopping?" Vincent looked at me, hesitating. I nodded encouraging him. I've always wanted to go. Francesca made it sound awesome. "Sure, but, well, um…" "We've never been shopping before." I said quickly. "Like anywhere? Not even grocery shopping?" "No, not even grocery shopping." Vincent recovered. "Well that will change today!" Alice squealed.

Shopping with Alice was either different than regular shopping, or Francesca and I had an extremely different view of fun. Alice, Rosalie, Esme, Bella, and Renesmee who were also dragged here, dragged me to every store in the mall. The second we got in, Alice got me in a dressing room, and I was trapped there for at least 30 minutes while they brought me an outfit every 30 seconds and I had to model all of them. I wonder how Vincent was doing with the laid back Carlisle, jocular Emmett, and the mysterious Edward and Jasper.

"We have to go to the food court. The others fed Vincent, and we know he's not even doing half the work we're forcing Dylan do." Bella said. "Fine, but after that, we'll go get shoes!" Alice screeched. We brought the, um, numerous outfits to the car. Esme stayed inside to get the food for me. She said for me? Were they not going to eat? I logged this in my observations, right along with the whole, couple thing. There was something about the family that was just… off.

Alice made me try on over 50 pairs of shoes. Then Rosalie got in on it and dragged me to the makeup store. I didn't pick out anything the entire trip to the mall, someone else did. Rosalie picked everything that she said "would work on me." By the time we left, the boys had already gone home, and we had to call them so they could bring another car. We couldn't all ride in a car with all the stuff. REDICULOUS! Emmett came with his jeep, which apparently happened to be the go to car for over shopping. They did this a lot.

"You took forever. We got back over 4 hours ago." Vincent said. "But as to how you'll probably be dragged again next week, I don't think I'll have to go for the rest of my life." "Good luck with that one, Dylan. Alice and Rosalie will drag you by your toes." Jasper said. "There's nowhere you can run!" Emmett yelled. "How do you avoid it?" Vincent asked. "Well, um… Another time, Esme is calling! Got to go!" Jasper raced away and Emmett didn't hear the question I guess. Maybe he wanted to wait on this for some reason? Whatever. I went to my room, and like, passed out on my bed. I'd need the energy. School started back up tomorrow.

Alice picked out my outfit, while Rosalie did my hair and makeup. "Why are you making such a fuss? It's not the first day, everyone knows what I look like." "Yeah, but this is your first day as a Cullen! We have different standards." I got dressed, and then I was finally allowed to look in the mirror.

My dark brown hair was fixed in an intricate braid that ran down my back. My eyes looked bluer bluer than ever, and my cheeks were a light rosy pink. The lacey pink blouse I wore went well with the black jeans and pink pinstriped jacket with the powder blue flower.

I walked out to see Vincent in just jeans and a powder blue polo shirt. He didn't do anything with his hair, but then again, he had Edward and Jasper, not Alice and Rosalie. Esme had made us omelets, and once again, no one else but Jacob ate anything.

When we were at school, Vincent was acting different. I talked a little bit more than I had before, but Vincent said hello to everyone, and started getting people's phone numbers and everything. I got 3 phone numbers, but Vincent got like 23. We sat with the others, because they all sat together, and wouldn't really let anyone else come close. I had apparently been placed between Emmett and Jasper for a reason, because they finally stopped elbowing each other. They didn't eat their food, just pushed it around their tray. If it was one of them, I'd justify with having a bad day, but it was all of them. I went back to class, and soon the dismissal bell rang. I went to my locker and packed. I had a lot more homework than usual.

I started walking to the car, and could barely stand up under the weight. I lost my footing for a second, and almost fell flat on my face, but Bella grabbed me. "Watch out, the ground is more dangerous than you think." "How did you get here? You're locker is all the way on the other side of school, and I didn't see you!" "I was behind right behind you! Do you need glasses or something, Dill?" I'm going insane. We walked to the car and they all drove like race car drivers.

What was up with them? They didn't eat, they were all really pretty, Bella was really fast, and had to be strong to support me and my backpack. Plus, even when I went to bed at like midnight, no one else was in bed before me. Was it a pride thing? Vincent did that. He wouldn't go to bed unless I did. Of course, our situation was different. I did my homework, and Esme brought my dinner up because I didn't finish until after 9:30. I brought down my plate, took a shower and went to bed.

I was in the dark room. It was the first day of summer. In the summer, we had to go inside the minute Father unlocked the shed. He would tell us where to go, and the length of our time would depend on the day of the week, if he was off. When he wasn't we'd have to go through 2, 1 before he left, and 1 when he got home. He'd make something up that we did wrong, or reuse one from another day. And when he was off…

It was Saturday, he was off. He woke us up before sunrise, and dragged us to the house. He stuffed Vincent in the closet and brought me to the dark room. "Come on, you worthless kid. In the corner." I stood in the corner for about an hour while he went to hurt Vincent. I heard an occasional grunt and whimper, and prayed that it would end. Then he came back down. He pulled me by my hair to one of his older favorites, a kiddy backpack leash attached to a dog house, this would last a while. Chained up like a dog, and there was even dog food in a bowl next to some water. I'd probably be here for a few days from the looks of it. He kicked me, and I heard the door click shut. I could have easily gotten out, but I was absolutely terrified of what would happen if I got caught. I fell asleep, and he was back. I was kicked awake, screamed at, and then kicked some more. I felt one of my ribs break, and cried out in agonizing pain. "Dylan, Dylan wake up! It's okay, he won't hurt you! We won't let them hurt you!" Emmett's voice woke me up, and also his cold, strong grip on my shoulders.

"You okay Dill? You want to talk?" Vincent said, and gave me a hug, physical contact that I only let Vincent have. He was the only one I could trust. Vincent is the only person in existence that would never intentionally hurt me. "I'm okay. Thanks for waking me up." "No problem kid." Emmett said, "Try to go back to sleep, 'kay? You to Vincent." "You sure you're okay?" Vincent asked. "Go sleep. I'll be fine." I had tried the stop sleeping thing at the Cullens, but it was like they had all known, and I had to sleep or they'd wait until I did.

Emmett closed the door, and I was once again in the darkness by myself. I went to my bathroom, and splashed some cold water on my face. Get a grip, Dylan. I took my iPod, which Vincent had loaded with songs he knew I liked with the iTunes money Esme had given us. Vincent was fine with spending the money they gave, reasoning that they "loved" us. I felt uncomfortable. Why would anyone want to help me? I understand Vincent, he's the greatest person I know, but me? I wasn't special, I never did anything right, and I wasn't even good enough for any of their kindness. I wasn't worth the effort, the money, or the time.

I set a playlist of my favorite songs, and blasted them on my headphones. I think I drifted off when "The Man Who Can't Be Moved" by The Script was playing. I dreamed about the Cullens. Bella stopped my fall, they never ate, they all were pale and their eyes were the same but they were all adopted. They were all beautiful like a sculpture, and they were probably millionaires, even though Carlisle was only, like, 26. Emmett's skin was really cold. They were in couples, and Renesmee looked a lot like Bella and Edward, but they're all like the same age. I will be on Google tomorrow; I wonder what I can find on the mysterious Cullen family.

I went to school, it went just like yesterday, except this time I got 12 numbers, and 10 of them were from guys. The guys looked irritated, including Vincent. I knew they thought that big brothers should keep little sisters away from boys, but I wasn't interested in guys at the moment anyway. I wanted to figure out the Cullen mystery first. Edward's brow furrowed, his lips moved quickly, and the others glanced at me worriedly. Vincent and I were once again left out of the loop. Was it because we were younger and they didn't think we'd understand? We weren't 5! Why do they treat us like little kids?

I got home, zoomed through my remaining homework because I had done most of it at study period, and pulled out my laptop. I typed in "cold, strong, fast, no eating, and beautiful, and pale." Immediately, Wikipedia popped up with a very strange result: vampires. Not some weird illness or special disorder, but a mythical creature like Dracula. Vincent knocked on the door. I knew it was Vincent because, well, he was my brother and I could identify him at a Vincent lookalike contest without looking at any of them. I knew him by his walk, his talk, his voice, even his expressions.

"What you up to, Dill?" I waved him over and pulled up Word, typing my conversation. "Researching. The Cullens are strange. Cold skin, strong, fast, pale, beautiful, the eyes, they never eat, I've never seen any of them go to sleep, and sometimes they talk like those old people in nursing homes, with like "leaping lizards" and all that; Vince, type what you're going to say." "Maybe they're all on some super strict and amazing fitness thing. Diet and Exercise and all that." "But they never eat ever! When I was on Google, this is what popped up!" I pulled up the Wikipedia page, and Vincent immediately did the Vincent thing, and felt my forehead for a fever. "You don't feel warm. Are you just messing with me or something?" "Vincent. I'm serious! Did you not notice at lunch when they were all looking at us? I saw Edward speak, but I didn't hear a thing!" "I didn't either, but I'm sure there's a logical explanation. I mean, vampires, Dylan, really?" I made him read the Wikipedia article, and another one from some myth website, and he seemed to be a little more open to the concept. "Well, the symptoms are the same, but it's a totally crazy idea and in case you haven't noticed, I haven't seen any of them attempting to drink our blood! Or anyone's for that matter!" "Well, I don't know! But it's bothering me to feel like there's something I should know that I don't! I need to justify it or I'm going to go crazy!" "What do you want to do, ask them?" "NO! Absolutely not, if we're wrong they'll think I'm crazy, and you're crazy, and that Father filled our heads with horror stories!" "If we're wrong? One, there is no we in this belief. Two, what do you mean if?" "Vincent, please. Sometimes, you need to trust me like I trust you. I know this is a crazy risk, but can you just, help me monitor and tell me about any other observations? Please? If we don't find anything else, I'll drop it and this conversation never happened. Please?" "Fine, but I still think you should let Carlisle see if you're sick." "Maybe later."

Throughout the next month, we continued to be observant, and Vincent caught something: when he was going downstairs to get water, Rosalie and Alice were the only ones there. When he asked where everyone else was, they said they were sleeping. It would have passed just fine if everyone's doors weren't open and the empty beds were in plain view. So, now we added leaving in the middle of the night in big groups to the list.

Alice and Rosalie had given me a new outfit today, it was Friday. I went to my closet and tried it on, and looked in the giant mirror. I never realized before how many scars I had. My back and my legs looked like someone had drew lines on them with a knife, rough jagged lines. I turned, and pulled up my top a bit so I could see my stomach. It looked the same, plus some small, grainy looking ones and the mark I tried not to remember. I examined my entire body, looking at all my scars, horrified. I hadn't realized how prominent they were, or how many!

I've never felt so ugly before. I am ugly, why would anyone ever love me? Why would the Cullens even try to save me when anyone who could see already knew I wasn't worth it?! They were all so beautiful, and I can't even where a short skirt and a t-shirt without feeling like a freak!

Alice's POV

We were waiting for Dylan to come out and model. What was taking her so long? We was trying to form some kind of relationship with our new baby sister, but the only one who seemed to be able to get her to say more than a few words was Vincent! I don't know why she always pushed us away. She was very observant. She didn't talk much but her thoughts revealed her high level of intelligence, and her extreme emotional turmoil as well. I was pulled from my thoughts by small, almost inaudible sobs. Was Dylan _crying_?

I knocked on the door of her closet. "Dill? You okay in there?" "Yeah, I-I'm okay. Just, um, it doesn't look good." "Well that's okay. We have a lot more clothes for you. Don't worry about it. Can I see it though? You're probably being too hard on yourself. Come on out." Rose suggested. "It really doesn't look good." "Oh, don't be ridiculous! If you don't come out, we'll just come in anyway."

Dylan's POV

I had to go. I wiped off my tears the best I could, fixed the shirt, put a brave face on and walked out. "See? You look great. It's very flattering on you." I went and sat down on my bed, just to move away from their stares.

"Okay, look. I know it's not the outfit you're upset about. I don't exactly know what it is, but I'm sure whatever it is, isn't as bad as you think. You're probably blowing this way out of proportion because everyone is always harder on themselves then they need to be. But Dylan, whatever it is, if you should tell us, maybe we can help." Alice said. "I can't tell you. You'll laugh at me." "Come on, We're your sisters. You can tell us the girly stuff you don't tell Vincent, or whatever you want. I swear I won't post it on Facebook or anything like that. We're family." "I'm ugly." I spat out the words.

"Dylan! Don't ever say anything like that, don't even think it! You're beautiful, gorgeous, I wish I could be half as pretty as you!" Rosalie said. "You're like 3 trillion times prettier than I am, even Emmett is prettier than me." "Dylan, look in the mirror. What do you see?" Alice asked. "Myself. Scars. I'm not that crazy." "No, that's not what I meant. What do you see when you think of yourself?" I didn't know what I saw. I don't know. "Well, what I see when I look at you is a very pretty girl, inside and out, who never gives up, is highly intelligent, and deserves even more than we can give her." Rosalie said. "I see someone who needs to learn how to treat herself better and stop selling herself short. A few positive thoughts might help her feel better, and I think she is really more gorgeous than she thinks." Alice said, "You need to stop judging yourself so harshly. Everyone has something about themselves they don't like. You have to learn to live with it, or improve upon it." "Thanks." "It's no problem. That's why we're here."

They left after I tried on every outfit, and then I just worked on the homework due Monday. It was easier to get it done now and not have to do anything this weekend. I finished up, and got really bored. I headed downstairs, and found Emmett and Jasper watching some old movie, it was in black and white. Vincent came into the room with popcorn and a Dr. Pepper. "We're watching Dracula. There's an old monster movie marathon on." Emmett and Jasper laughed, really loud. I wasn't sure whether it was because of something in the movie, or the positively terrible special effects. "They do that anytime Dracula come on screen. It's more entertaining to watch them watch the movie." That's so Vincent.

I sat down and watched the movie with them, and then the next one, and got all the way to the beginning of the third movie before I must have crashed on the sofa.

It was summertime, Wednesday, must have been early morning. I was woken up by the lock on the door being opened, and Father coming in barking orders. "Good morning, Sir!" "Shut up you useless brat! Vincent now!" He grabbed Vincent by the back of the neck and dragged him out of the shack. The clink of the heavy lock meant that I was locked in, and Vincent was _alone _with Father. I pounded at the door, the walls, everywhere, it had to give, it had to! Vincent… Vincent…. Please don't leave me… You're all I have…

The lock was yanked off, and Father came for me. At least he won't be hurting Vincent. If I could be strong for my time, he might not go back to Vincent today. I walked down to the basement behind Father, and the second we hit the door to the basement, he threw me down the stairs. I took in a sharp breath. This was not going to be good. He started hitting me with a rod, he was screaming something, I tried to block it out but the words struck me. Useless. No one loves you. Never been born. I had always wished it, but never heard anyone else say it.

Then he hit me, hard, in the ribs and I felt something break. Someone was screaming, who was screaming?! He hit me on the head, and before I fell unconscious, I figured that it was me.

Vincent's POV

I must have fallen asleep soon after Dill. I was in our old "room" if you could call it that. It was early, and we were trying to sleep in. I heard the padlock drop, and knew we were in for it. "Good morning, sir!" Dill screeched, she thought that if we were perfect for them, he'd go easy on us. "SHUT UP YOU USELESS BRAT! VINCENT NOW!" I didn't care that he snapped at me, but there is no way he should talk to Dylan that way. He grabbed me and pulled me outside. He locked Dylan in there, all by herself.

He threw me into the small broom closet, where I was basically trapped. This closet is probably what made me so claustrophobic; I could barely go in an elevator. His belt came at me, repeatedly, then his feet. I pretended to be unconscious; usually he'd stop a few minutes after that. Hopefully he'd leave Dill alone, that was why I barely ever did it, but maybe he wouldn't hurt her today. The door slammed shut, and I heard the back door open. NO, NO, NO, NO! He can't hurt her! That's not fair!

I heard her feet, she always would take her graciously, and he never had to drag her in. She thought it might make him less aggressive. I couldn't hear much of what was going on but by her small screams, it was brutal. I also heard Father. "You useless little brat! Why can't you ever listen?! No one loves you, and no one ever will! Even Vincent is better than you! I feel bad that he has to share a birthday with you! I wish that you were never even born! All you did was bring pain and suffering into this family!" I heard an absolutely blood curdling scream. I clawed at the door, tried to break it down, anything, but nothing would work. I was trapped here… in this tight space… I'd probably die here, and Dylan is probably dying downstairs… all alone with _Him._

I woke up, in my room. I was woken up by screaming. I bolted out of bed towards Dylan's room. Edward, Jasper, and Emmett were in the room trying to wake her up. "Dylan, come on snap out of it! Wake up! It's just a dream!" I walked over to her, and whispered in her ear, it was the only way I've ever been able to pull her out of the really bad ones. She needed to know it wasn't within the dream before her subconscious would release her. "Dill, it's Vince. Dill, you gotta wake up." Her screams abruptly stopped, and her eyes shot open. She was hyperventilating. She grabbed me and pulled me into a hug that was impossible to escape, but I wouldn't want to anyway. She needed me.

The guys left the room after she had calmed down a bit, and she started crying into my shoulder. "It was the…. The day he started taking us in turns… I was so scared….." "I know. I had the same dream, or at least the same day." "I'm so sorry Vincent!" "It's okay, it wasn't your fault, it was never your fault." "But if I would've-" "Would've what? Not been born? Left me all by myself? I wouldn't have lived past 7."

Carlisle's POV

It was getting worse. Now I knew Vincent had these dreams too, he just didn't seem to scream. There had to be a way to help them. I knew the psychiatrist hadn't helped Dylan, she just pretended nothing happened to her. I had the feeling if we tried to get her to talk about it, she'd just go into her shell and not say a word. Vincent let it out, while she bottled it up. The first few nights in the hospital, when Dylan was asleep, I had overheard Vincent's soft sobs. He hasn't cried in a long time, but this was the first real emotional outburst that I've heard from Dylan. It concerned me, both as a doctor and a father. I wanted to help my daughter so badly, but I didn't know how.

If I didn't hold myself and my family to such a high moral code, their sorry excuse for parents would have been wiped off the earth the second I heard their story. Their father obviously did it, but their mother never tried to stop it from what I understand. The children, I guess are an exception. Maybe they were fearful of it happening to them, or it used to happen to them and they lied? It doesn't matter. Anyone willing to hurt a child, let alone theirs, or stand by, didn't deserve to be a parent.

Dylan's POV

We were going to the mall. Alice had picked out more coordinating outfits for Vince and I. She was really into the twin thing. First she spent 30 minutes fixing Vincent's hair while I took a shower, insisting that the guys didn't do a good enough job last time. Rosalie fixed my hair while Alice did my makeup. They wanted to make sure it was positively perfect, so they wouldn't let me do it myself. The others were still getting ready, and Alice didn't seem happy about Bella dressing herself, something about having the fashion sense of a twelve year old boy. Thank goodness she let me get dressed by myself, I was starting to doubt they'd let me.

I was wearing a red sundress with black strappy sandals and a black cardigan, "in case it got cold". I was just supposed to carry it, not wear it. I had a little black flower wristlet with my wallet, phone, and lip gloss. Rosalie had put my hair in a side pony tail, curled it, and tied it with a red ribbon. Vincent was wearing black pants with a red shirt and red converse, and Alice had spiked his hair. She took about 50 pictures of us before we even left the house. "Next time we're totally making the whole family coordinate! You two look so adorable!"

When we got to the mall, it was nearly empty. This wasn't one of the usual malls on Alice's weekly shopping trips. It had a lot of upscale, high end, super expensive boutiques. I didn't see any escalators, just elevators. This wasn't good. Vincent can't stand tight spaces. Hopefully Alice would just have us stay on the first floor. But, just in case… I sent her a quick text "V is claustrophobic." Autocorrect typed most of it. She glanced at me; I was pretending to look at earrings.

But, she kept staring at me. She didn't seem to notice what was going on for a few minutes; it kind of freaked me out a bit. Edward went closer to Vincent, and Alice walked towards me. "Come on. We're leaving. Now." I half walked, half dragged out of the store, and Alice towed us along to one of the elevators. Did she already forget my text?!

When Vincent realized where we were going I saw him stiffen, Edward still kept dragging him along. The closer we got, the paler Vincent was. He was trembling when we reached the elevator. We were all in and Vince was trying not to hyperventilate. I escaped Alice's strong grasp and quickly went to Vincent. "It's fine, it's just an elevator, we'll be out of here in a few seconds. I'm right here." He grabbed my hand and squeezed it so tight I thought he might break my fingers, but I didn't care. I'd gladly take pain for Vincent. The elevator finally opened, and he practically sprinted out. "Thanks." "No biggie. Don't mention it." "That was kind of weird right?" "You mean in the store? Yeah, we can talk later." Rosalie walked towards us, and carted us off to another store.

We got home a little later, and I went to my room. I turned on the TV and started flipping channels when a news report popped up about an armed robbery occurring at the mall we were just at, in the store we had been in just hours before.

I knocked on Vincent's door and dragged him into my room. He watched the news report in silence, and immediately pulled out my laptop and started typing. "Could it have been a coincidence?!" "I don't know, right before they dragged us out, Alice like spaced out. It was weird." "What are you two doing in here?" Carlisle asked. We had forgotten to close the door. "Nothing. Just messing around." "Really? It looks like something more than that." He walked over to us, and saw it. The document with every one of our conversations, observations, and suspicions about the Cullens. He didn't look at us like we were crazy. He simply walked downstairs into the living room and yelled in an authoritative voice I'd never heard him use, "Family meeting."

The others automatically walked downstairs, I could hear their light footsteps, but I hesitated. Were we enough of a part of the family to go to this meeting? Or where they just going to talk about putting us in an institution? "Vincent, Dylan? Are you coming? Oh, bring the laptop." Vincent gave me a look and I hesitantly followed him.

I held the laptop close to me. Was he going to print it as evidence that we were insane? Or at least I was? After all it was _my _laptop, not Vincent's. Carlisle spoke, "It seems that Vincent and Dylan have figured out our big secret. I have absolutely no idea how, but it seems we don't have to hide around them anymore." "What about?" Jacob asked. "No, they haven't spent enough time around him. It's a lot easier to focus on us because we're constantly around. I doubt Seth would care if you informed them of yourself as well." "Okay, I'm a werewolf." This is definitely not one of my usual nightmares. "I can read minds. I really do like you Dylan." Edward said. "I see the future, that weird zoning out thing." "I'm a shield." Bella said. Didn't understand that one. "I'm an empath." Jasper admitted. "I can show you my thoughts. I'm not actually a vampire, I'm only half. Edward and Bella are my real parents." Renesmee said. Well that was unexpected. "I did this thing called imprinting on Renesmee. We're soul mates." Jacob said. "How about we just show you a few things? This is so much to take in."

Emmett ran across the room, he was across the room one second, and to the piano the next. Then he _lifted_ the piano. "We can all do that, and more." "We don't drink human blood, or at least we try not to. Our main diet is animal blood." Rosalie said.

I knew it was too good to be true. I was just starting to think I was paranoid, when it turns out I was right all along. Why couldn't we just get a normal life? One where our family doesn't have the ability to kill us at any minute? What was I supposed to do now? Go back to the way we were living before when things were now so different?

"Why?" Vincent's voice broke me out of my daze, "why did you adopt us?" "We adopted you, because we saw people in need. If you decide to not call your social worker, who will just think you're insane and send you to a psychiatric hospital, we can tell you how we were helped." Alice said. "How are we going to know that you aren't going to kill us?!" Vincent was mad. The only time I've ever heard him talk like this was with Father. "Well, you're still alive now. Why would we have kept you alive so long if all we wanted to do was kill you?" Jasper said calmly. What is this going to mean for us?

Nothing. Everything would go on as it always did, with a small adjustment period. It might be better this way, we'd be able to finally fully understand the mystery that is the Cullens. Vincent was fuming next to me, and I didn't feel like him exploding. "Vince, it's fine." "Fine?! Dylan how can this be fine?" "If we can survive living with Father, we can definitely survive with the Cullens. You're blowing it out of proportion. When I did the research, it was just something to keep me busy. I needed to distract myself so that I could transition into living with them without having some kind of breakdown. It was an opportunity to find some kind of thing wrong with a family so perfect. I needed some kind of guide to see how normal people lived. Now I know that this isn't how normal people live, I don't feel as sorry for myself. I knew they were well off, but they never really fought, which was weird. Francesca and Clark fought constantly. They're not normal, but face it, neither are we." "I don't like it, but if you trust them, I trust them." "Thanks."

Alice's POV  
That was the most I've ever heard Dylan say before. The two of them were like a family with just each other. I always thought Vincent was the leader and Dylan just followed along, but now it seems to me that it was Dylan was the thinker that planned, and Vincent was the mouthpiece. Dylan was such an anomaly. I wonder the kind of thoughts Edward gets from her. Vincent was relatively simpler to classify. He was the kind of guy that would do fine anywhere. He lived purely for survival when he had to, but when he got an opportunity, he popped out of his shell and did something. I had definitely underestimated Dylan. Not only had she figured out our secret, but she kept it a secret that she knew our secret. If Edward wasn't around, she probably would have figured it out sooner.

"Alright, it's late, and you have school tomorrow. You should probably be in bed already, but that didn't happen so…" Carlisle said. They walked upstairs, and I heard the slam of Vincent's door, and Dylan gently close hers. "Well that went better than expected." Jasper said. "I thought Dylan would flip out and like, never talk again. I didn't think Vincent would be the one to be upset." Bella commented. "What are you talking about? I expected them both to freak out." Emmett said. "Me too." Rosalie, Jacob, Esme, Carlisle, and Renesmee all said. "Alice? Did u see this?" "No, it was too spur of the moment, plus Jacob and Ness were here." "Edward, you haven't said a word. What's up?" "The thoughts going through their heads. Dylan panicked at first but she convinced herself it would be okay. Vincent was enraged that we risked their lives. He was especially worried about Dylan." "That's to be expected of a typical overprotective brother right?" Esme said. "I guess, given what they've been through together. They're a unique duo."

"Grandpa, what about the Volturi? What if they find out?" "Well, I made a deal with Aro. We won't challenge their power as long as they left us alone. It's clear that our diet has made us different from other vampires. We agreed to do them favors every now and then, and they wouldn't bother us. All I had to do was promise that we wouldn't create an immortal child, or give away our true identity to the entire town." "Convenient." "Yep."

Dylan's POV

I took a long shower, put on some silky pajamas that Alice had bought me, and gotten into my bed. I couldn't fall asleep. There was no way. My mind was too busy. The Cullens were vampires. _Vampires. _Suddenly, music filled the house. Eventually my eyelids became too heavy and I fell asleep.

When I woke up, there was no nightmare and no screaming. That hasn't happened in a long time. I got dressed, in one of Alice's pre-approved outfits, put on a little makeup, and fixed my hair. It was nice to be able to have a normal night sleep. I headed downstairs. Vincent was in the kitchen, eating breakfast just like he did every morning, acting like it was any other Monday. "Hey." "Hey."

I drank my protein shake, and then they finally decided it was time to leave, with about 10 minutes left before we'd be late. "We probably would've left later, but we figured you might want to visit your lockers or something." Emmett said casually. How fast did they drive? Usually they drove at around 80 mph, but now instead of me thinking it was because they could pay out of any speeding ticket, I knew it was because they were vampires. We took off like a rocket, going 120 mph! They didn't look nearly as panicked as I felt, and Jasper seemed to notice and used his empath powers.

I ran to my locker, threw my books in, and raced to class with only 30 seconds left before the bell. My locker was all the way across the school. Class started and seemed to go on forever. When the bell finally rang for next class, P.E., I was ready to go home already. I somehow got through the morning, and finally hit lunch. "Today is taking forever." I commented. "Are you kidding? I feel like we just left the house." Vincent replied. "What about you guys?" I asked. "Meh, all the days have started to blur together after a while. It's easier to go through the day if you've already learned everything that's being taught." Emmett replied. "Speaking of, it's going to be the first two sunny days of the year on Thursday and Friday, so we're all going to have a 4 day weekend." Alice said. "Why?" Vincent asked. "You'll see this weekend. Four days is a while, Esme has been telling the Denali all about the twins… Maybe we can go up to visit." Nessie said. "We'll miss a whole two days of school? Are you sure?" Vincent asked. We had gotten into the habit of making good grades, we knew what brought you down. "Relax, you won't miss anything. You might fall behind in math, but now that I see it, we can go over what you'll miss on the trip there." Alice said. Why were they so chill about missing school? Oh yeah, vampires. Been to high school so many times they could teach every class themselves.

The rest of the day passed relatively faster, I guess knowing I didn't have to stay the whole week made it better. I went home, funny that I called it that naturally now, and did my homework quickly, but I did it right. I think.

Esme had made chicken alfredo for dinner, and it was great. Vincent ate 3 bowls. "Nice Vincent." Jacob commented. "What?" He said with a mouth full of half chewed food. "Close your mouth. I don't need to see that." I said. He started laughing and then kept doing it, staring at me. "Just iw, like stop." I said laughing. "Stop it Vincent." Esme said, "It's not polite. You won't get any girls that way." I was having a hard time suppressing my laughter.

After dinner, I got ready for bed, than we all watched a movie in the living room. I stayed up the whole time, and when I went to bed, I unfortunately started dreaming.

It was during a freeze that happened last year, one of the worst that the town had seen in 37 years. I remembered hearing something about covering plants, bringing pets inside, etc. This was one of the worst days of my entire life. We never went inside, Father just told us to go to our room, and he locked the padlock. The shack wasn't insulated, and all we had were 2 thin blankets, and our small amount of clothes. We thought we'd been really lucky today, but it turns out, Father planned on torturing us a different way.

I'd never thought that outside could be so horrible. Even though we were technically inside, it was no protection. "Vince, it's really cold. We need to pool our resources." "Okay. Let's push the mattresses together." We pushed them together, made an extra blanket out of our clothes and shared our 2 thin blankets to make 1 normal-ish blanket. We huddled for warmth, but I could see Vince's lips starting to turn blue. We were both shivering, and my legs were getting stiff from the cold.

"Maybe if we think warm, it'll help." I suggested. It was a long shot, but it was all we had. I thought of a beach, but it wasn't working. "Vincent, what are you thinking of?" "A v-volcano." Maybe that could work. Volcano. It was helping a little, but I was still freezing. However, Vince's lips looked like they were back to a normal color again. Then, I think I fell asleep, or passed out.

I woke up to find the reason that was what I dreamed. All of my blankets were on the floor, and the a/c was running strong. I pursed my lips, and pulled the blankets back on top of me. I was stronger than the dreams. I could handle them better now. I went back to sleep, and woke up to my alarm.

School was just a bit better than yesterday, and that's how the week went until I saw the sun out for the first time in a long time. I was in an RV with everyone else, but I was on the top bunk of one of the many sets of beds that only Vincent and I would use. The other beds held clothes and stuff. Vincent had obviously been beneath me, because the bed wasn't made and his blanket was on it. They must have carried me here early this morning. I sat up, immediately hitting my head. "Ow." Jasper was immediately next to my bed, and just placed me on the ground. "Thanks." "That bump is going to bruise. Your clothes are set out in the big bedroom." Alice called out. Ugh. Great.

I walked over to the "big bedroom", which was the queen sized bed in the back. The RV was brand new, they bought it like two weeks ago so we could go on family road trips over the summer. I had no idea where we'd be going, but Alice seemed excited about it. Vincent and I had agreed not to take the queen bed because we wouldn't share it and one shouldn't have what the other didn't. Alice had set out a black and white skirt with a sheer black blouse (with a camisole of course, no need to make 6 guys want to kill her) and a white blazer. I got dressed, and also noticed the thicker jackets she had placed on the chair. "For image, and for you." Edward called. Of course.

Vincent was at the table, eating with Jacob, while Emmett watched them and made comments on how disgusting it looked. My head was still hurting a bit, so I just sat down, I wasn't that hungry anyway. Esme put a large plate in front of me with a variety of breakfast food. Carlisle walked over and started looking at my future bruise. Rosalie was driving, they were taking shifts. I wasn't really eating, just poking at the food. "Eat it Dylan." I nibbled on it. It was good, I was just never really hungry anymore. This happened a lot more often lately. Carlisle usually said that I didn't have to eat every meal, but I had to have at least one a day and protein shakes for the others. After I finished enough to make Carlisle happy (if I had made Esme happy I would have had to ask for fourths), Vincent looked at me with the familiar begging eyes, and I pushed my plate in front of him. He ate like a pig, and I ate like a mouse.

I started to zone out, I just stared out the window. I wanted to be alone with my thoughts, so I was hoping Bella was helping. She sometimes would do it without realizing when she was nervous or excited, and by the slight twitch she seemed to have every now and then, I sensed nervous. Everyone seemed so free, so happy. They were in the family. Vincent would fit in anywhere, but I just couldn't. I was just an extra. Even Father said it.

Vincent was always there for me, and if they had only taken Vincent, he wouldn't have gone, even if I would have told him to. He was strong willed, which wasn't a good thing for someone that had been in our situation.

Everyone was making jokes, laughing, and having fun family time. I never really felt like I was included in it for anything other than obligation. Jasper was always relatively quiet around me, but when he was around Emmett and Vincent, he could talk all day. Emmett was nice enough, but he was nice to everyone, it wasn't hard to be in his good graces. Edward said he liked me, but he never, I don't know, branched out. I had tried talking to him a few times, but I could never muster the courage or think of what to say. Jacob seemed cool, but he was always with Renesmee, and I had a feeling she didn't like me. She always looked at me with a certain anger. What had I ever done? Bella always looked like she wanted to be with someone else. Alice and Rosalie were nice to me, but we didn't really have a relationship other than them making me try on more clothes. Esme was wonderful, motherly. Mother really never tried to be like that, so I had no comparison other than parents from books. She seemed great. Carlisle was always very gentle and caring, but very busy with work _and _the family; I rarely saw him for more than a few minutes at a time.

I didn't really have a relationship with anyone. I was just sort of there. An ornament, a side fixture, a wall flower, along for the ride. "We're going to stop for a quick break."

We all got out at a rest stop, and I had to be helped down because the RV was so high up. Vincent and I headed to the direction of the bathrooms. The one on the RV was only for last resort. Carlisle followed us, and waited for us until we came out. Esme handed me some skittles and a yoo-hoo, and Vincent got m&m's and a yoo-hoo. "Alice said you would like them." She said teasingly. I smiled, and we got back in the RV. It was Edward's turn to drive. "Why can't I drive?" Vincent asked. "Because, I'm _not_ indestructible." I replied. I think I heard Emmett snort.

Everyone was winding down a bit. Alice was sitting in Jasper's lap, and he was reading a book. Bella was sitting up front by Edward, messing with his hair. Renesmee and Jacob were watching TV. Emmett and Rosalie were talking. Esme and Carlisle were on laptops managing their stock market shares. Alice would occasionally blurt out something and they would do what she said. Vincent was working on algebra, and I was reading a book for English.

Vincent would never admit he needed help willingly. He had gotten the homework from a friend, but he had no idea what he was doing. Others would have thought he was messy, but I knew he was lost. "Gimme." I took his pencil, found the problem, and used the lesson from the book to do it. He wouldn't look at that. Sometimes he was too stubborn (and stupid) for his own good. "I still don't get it." Bella walked over, and sat next to him. "Let me try." Bella started helping him. She was a good teacher. She took it step by step, making sure he understood each one and why to do it. She showed him a few shortcuts too. I watched, because I would be doing it soon. We had the same schedule, and requested to be together. We would split the books to take home and share because it was easier on our backs and our backpacks.

I started doing algebra when Vincent moved on to world history. It was easier after Bella explained it. We completely finished homework, and still had at least 30 minutes left. The RV was a lot slower than the regular Cullen cars, and we were currently in bad traffic. I went to the bathroom and started fixing my hair. Alice was right, I had a large bruise forming on my forehead. There was nothing I could do to cover it. It was starting to throb slightly. I went back to the table and sat down. I put my head down and stared out the window. It was getting dark outside. My eyelids got heavy, and I started to doze off.

Branded. I was being branded. Vincent didn't know about it. He never got one. Father had ripped off my shirt (luckily Francesca had already given me a few bras). He had taken some kind of poker and stuck it in the fireplace. While it was still red hot, he pressed it into my skin, and he wouldn't take it off. I could feel and smell my skin burning. The pain was excruciating, but I couldn't scream. If I screamed, he'd pushed it in deeper. After what felt like hours, he removed the poker, and drenched me in ice water. It was freezing, but my side was still hurting terribly. Father went upstairs, and locked me in.

My eyes flew open, and my hand automatically went to my side. The others looked at me, so I tried to brush it off as stretching. They believed it I think. "We're almost to a shortcut! Edward turn left at the next exit. Bella I can tell you're shielding us, Edward isn't as annoyed with me!" Alice called.

Alice and Rosalie started to fix my outfit, making sure it was perfect and that everything looked good. Vincent just shrugged when they came by him and shook his head to mess up his hair once they finished. Rosalie tried to fix it again. It was a lost cause, no one could tell you that better than me. I looked out the window and saw what I assumed to be the Denali coven. Two blonde women, a brunette woman, and 2 brunette men were patiently waiting near a house similar to the Cullens'.

"Hello Carlisle, Esme, so nice to see you all again!" the brunette woman said. "Can't wait to meet the new additions, Vincent and Dylan. Come on out, no need to dilly dally." Everyone loaded off the RV, Jasper stood on the outside door and lifted me down. Emmett was hanging out by Vincent, like right on top of him. Jasper was doing it to me. This was going to be the whole trip wasn't it?

One of the blonde women approached me. "Nice try Kate." Jasper said, and put his arm in front of me. "Jasper, I would never! Don't give her a bad opinion of me already!" "Don't touch her Dylan, she can shock you more powerfully than a Taser." Nope. Wasn't hugging her. "Why didn't you warn me in advance?" I asked Jasper. "Didn't come up." He replied with a smirk.

The other blonde woman approached. "Don't mind Kate, she played a prank on Jasper when they first meant, he's still wary about it. I'm Tanya." I looked up at Jasper, he nodded, so I shook Tanya's hand. He smirked again. I stepped on his foot, but of course he didn't notice.

A brunette man walked up to us, after saying hi to Vincent. "I'm Garrett. Nice to meet you." "Not to close Garrett." Jasper said cautiously, putting his arm in front of me protectively. "What? I'm in control." "Not enough to make me happy." Edward and Rosalie walked over, stood in front of me. Bella and Alice joined Emmett, in front of Vincent. "Stand down. You're a bit overprotective, Jasper. He means no harm." Carlisle said. The others dispersed at Carlisle's plea, but Jasper whispers something to Garrett that I couldn't hear. Stupid vampire senses.

Garrett didn't come closer. He didn't approach Vincent again. The other brunette man came up with the brunette woman. "Carmen, Eliezer." Jasper said. He nodded at me, and I shook both their hands. "Looks like you have your favorite Jasper." Carmen said playfully. He rolled his eyes and shrugged. "Well, let's not stand outside while the kids get cold, come in, come in."

They used their speed to get to the house, and Jasper picked me up by my elbow and headed to the house. "I don't like being manhandled." I said. He laughed.

The inside of the house was, how I expected, richly decorated like the Cullen mansion. But instead of the more Victorian style antiques, I saw mostly a Spanish influence. They also had many paintings. They were beautiful, full of detail and vibrant colors. The house had a lot of wood, creating a warm atmosphere.

My phone vibrated. Everyone looked up, but I shrugged. "Just a text. Not urgent." They went back to their conversations, I wanted to check it, but Jasper wouldn't let me leave his side, and lately every text I got was from this boy asking me to go on a date. He sighed, and looked in the other direction. If we wouldn't let me leave his side, he would have to do something for me. I checked it. It was from him. I rolled my eyes, he couldn't have just told me? _Stay away from Garrett. I don't want you by him. He hasn't had as much human practice as the rest of us. _Human practice was their term for blood resistance.

Time seemed to pass differently there, surrounded by those that don't age, or need to sleep or eat. Different even, then when we were just with the Cullens. I say Cullen like a foreign people, but in reality, my full, correct name, is Dylan Elsa Cullen. Elsa was my great grandmother's name. It was given to me before they started hating me. Vincent's middle name was Tobias, after our grandfather, who died 2 years after we were born.

Esme had ran to some restaurant in the small town and picked up some food for Vincent and I: tacos. After I had eaten a whole taco, and Vincent had eaten 4, Carmen insisted we took showers and slept in the house rather than the RV. They only had one bed however, so Carlisle convinced her we would be fine sleeping in the RV, but we would definitely take showers inside.

Alice literally makes all clothes an outfit, no matter what they were for. The pajamas she had packed for me were some of the ones I had refused to wear because of how many pieces came with them: a long sleeved green shirt, blue and green wool plaid pants, a blue zip up hoodie, and green boot slippers. Rosalie stylishly braided my wet hair while Alice fixed my pajamas as if I was about to walk down a runway. I knew exactly what she was doing. Vincent flat out refused to let him fix her, stopping her after she got him to wear the coordinating pajamas; she took the twin thing too far. She was showing off to her family, showing them what she could do with a little time. I was happy when she let me leave the bathroom with just the Chap Stick. When I saw Vincent, his hair was in his eyes, he was basically wearing the same as me, but the colors were reversed, blue where my green was, green where my blue was.

"Vince, you really need a haircut, how can you see?" I teased. "Look who's talking, Miss I haven't cut my hair ever." "I'll cut your hair." Emmett said with a grin. "Emmett go ahead and shave Vincent's head if he lets you, but if I see any of Dylan's hair, you'll be in trouble." "I was just kidding, Esme. Hair is definitely something I would let you do, though I doubt Dylan will ever be allowed to cut her hair." "It's almost 11. They need to go to bed. Fight with them later." Esme said, looking authoritative.

When we got in the RV, Carlisle put the heater on, and helped me climb into my top bunk. Why on earth they gave the short one the top, I'll never know. Edward came in, "It's because it's easier to lift you." "Why?" "You're smaller." "Are you guys making fun of me?" Vincent asked. "Yes." I answered, and turned towards the wall, turning off my bed light from the wall switch. Drifting to sleep was a bit harder, I had gotten used to not hearing Vincent snore. It only took a few minutes to fall back into old habits, and sleep overtook me.

I was waiting in the dark room, dreading when Father came home as usual, but this time was different. I had been called to see the counselor, and Father had definitely found out somehow. Someone had reported me for some issue, I was so nervous in the office that I had gone to the bathroom and thrown up. Apparently they suspected abuse. At the time, I laughed it off. "That's crazy." Now that I have experienced real family, I wish that I hadn't.

Too soon, the door opened. He didn't even speak. He walked over to me, and before I even knew what was happening I was pinned underneath him. He took off his belt, but instead of hitting me with it, he started taking off his pants. No. This couldn't be happening, he'd never done this before, he couldn't. I started screaming, fighting harder than I ever had before, doing anything I could. He slammed me against the ground, and started yanking off my clothes, and I couldn't stop screaming, fighting, I had to stop this.

"Dylan, wake up, wake up, Dylan it's okay, you're here with us. He's not here, it's Edward, Dylan wake up." I was in someone's arms, Edward's I assumed. I grabbed on to him and I couldn't stop crying. "It's okay. He will never hurt you again. Ever again. I'll kill him before he even gets a chance." His arms tightened around me, almost too tight. "Go to Rosalie. I'm going to go talk to Carlisle, okay? Everything is going to be fine. No one will let him hurt you."

Carlisle's POV

"Carlisle, I need to talk to you, right now." Edward practically growled, not stopping his fierce walk. We got off the RV, where everyone was crooning over Dylan, worried, wondering what had happened that shook her up so much, she had never screamed or fought like that before, not in any of her other dreams. "He raped her, Carlisle." Edward spat out. I couldn't comprehend. "What?" "He raped her. They almost got caught, so to keep her in submission, he raped her. I don't even think Vincent knows. Who knows how many times he did it to her after he found out how well it worked?" "Call their social worker."

I was on the phone with their social worker, then on the phone with the prosecutor in charge of their case. The sentence they had been given was not a life sentence, but this would probably change that. I don't know if I could get Dylan to confess to anyone, not even us. This was definitely new evidence though. Why hadn't they found this in their examinations?

"Vincent, come out here please." I called. He reluctantly walked out, watchfully observing Dylan the entire way out. "What, did you find out what she was dreaming of?" "Yes. Yes we did. Vincent, are you aware if your father ever raped Dylan?" He stiffened, his heart rate accelerated, he looked furious. "He… what?" "It might have just been a dream, son." A lie definitely, she couldn't imagine that kind of pain. "Is there any day where she acted very odd, any day in particular? Or she looked physically different than she usually did after your _sessions_?" That was the word we called them, Dylan flinched at the word _abuse._

"A few. Usually they were after a counselor meeting. The first time happened in eighth grade, middle of the first quarter. I had thought she had finally gotten on his good side. She got to take a shower every day that week. And each time after that, it happened nearly every time someone like a teacher or student asked if we had a problem had home, especially after those safe environment seminars. She would get to take showers, but her face when she came back…" His eyes glazed over, he was remembering something that scared him to think about. "If I would have known…" "There's no way you could have stopped it, Vincent. At least we can assure it won't happen again." "It almost did." "What?" "A day or two before the hospital, she talked about us running away again. She had been talking about it more and more, but she always scared herself out of it. She murmured something in her sleep like, 'it will only get worse.'"

It was solidly true then. I headed back to the RV. "Um, Carlisle?" "Yes, Vincent?" "If it's possible, can I be the only one who testifies at this new trial? No Dylan?" "Why?" "I know that they did the last one with the things I said at the hospital, but recordings aren't going to work, because there is positively no way you are going to be able to get Dylan to verbalize that fact." "And why would your testimony help?" "She's my twin sister. Every single event in Dylan's life has her side, and mine. The differences between those days were stark, I just never thought that Father was capable of…" "I understand. If someone is needed to testify, I'll encourage that it is you over Dylan. But be aware Vincent, if you enter that court room to testify, the defense attorney will try and flaw everything you say, and the prosecutor will make you relive those moments, repeatedly." "I know." Vincent was set on keeping Dylan out of any kind of pain, and I understood why. Dylan had been tortured in so many ways, he was trying to keep her from having to relive it or suffer through anything like that again. As long as Dylan's family was around, nothing like that would hurt her again.

Dylan's POV

It was one thing to deal with the punches, the kicks, the beatings, but this was different. This wasn't something that would heal. He had done that seven times, each time more excruciating than the one before. I would have traded any of his other tricks for any amount of time over that.

I couldn't even speak. I had tried to forget those days as best as I could, whenever any thought of them came up, I would start to do something distracting, that required my attention. Now everyone knew, and there was no way for it to stay hidden any longer.

"Shhh, you're okay, we're all here, no one can hurt you, you're alright." Rosalie crooned, but I could barely here her over my efforts to try and breathe. I couldn't breathe, the walls were caving in, I couldn't.. "Dylan, deep breathe. Take a deep breathe. Calm down, try and calm down." I was exchanged into Jasper's arms and he was trying to make me fall asleep. I didn't want to fall asleep, I don't want to see him anymore! I started fighting, I had to get out! He's going to find me here, I can't stay any longer!

Edward's POV

Dylan's heart rate was highly irregular, as was her breathing. Jasper's effect wasn't working as quickly and efficiently as we needed it to. She wasn't hurting him of course, but we didn't want her to hurt herself. Carlisle quickly retrieved his bag from one of the top compartments and pulled out a syringe filling it with, what I knew by the smell, to be a sedative, a strong one at that. He walked towards Dylan, and Jasper stiffened so that she couldn't at all. It didn't take long for the sedative to take effect. She became limp in Jasper's arms, and he gently put her on the large bed that they wouldn't take earlier.

"What are we going to do when she wakes up? She's going to do it again." Alice stated. "She positively terrified." Jasper added. "She was just starting to be herself. I thought that she'd finally…" Vincent said. "What do you mean?" Esme asked. "She's always normal when its just me and her, but when other people are around I'm surprised when she says a word. She was finally beginning to talk more. I never thought it would happen." "It's okay. We'll get through this, it'll take time though. Now that she remembers that, she'll probably dream about it a lot more often." Carlisle replied. "Time is one thing we have plenty of." Esme said.

When Esme made Vincent go to bed at about 4 AM, he went to the room where Dylan was, and climbed next to her. He took her hand and gently squeezed it. She tilted her head towards him. Even unconscious, she could identify Vincent. They're relationship was stunning to watch. Rosalie and Jasper, who pretended to be twins, were very in sync with each other, but these two were like something otherworldly.

Rosalie's POV

I knew everyone wanted me to take the emotional lead with this, considering my background, but honestly I had no idea how to fully help Dylan. It had been her father. More than once. And she's so young, she's just a child. I would definitely try my best. I must not fail.

"When she wakes up, we need to be as normal as possible, to assure her that we don't see her any differently, or at least any worse. She feels like it's her fault, we need to make sure she sees that it's not."

A few weeks passed, Dylan didn't really talk much anymore, which was concerning enough. The thing that was worrying everyone was how little she would eat, if she did at all. Before she would drink protein shakes or something, but now it was successful if she ate more than some gum. She started making her showers longer, by like ten minutes. Whenever she got out, her skin would be red, scrubbed nearly raw. Something had to change, but none of us knew how to bring it about.

Carlisle's POV

Therapy didn't work for her, and it wouldn't because she rarely gives more than a yes or no answer, even to Vincent. We'd given weeks and not approached a change. We needed something.

I was at work, the kids were at school, Esme was home. "Ordinary" day. I was walking through the pediatric ward and stopped to talk to Dr. Marvelo, a young pediatric emergency doctor who had dealt with more than her share of child abuse cases.

"Shanon, can we talk? I need a bit of your expertise, I'm not familiar with this situation." "Sure, Carlisle, but if you need help, I doubt I have the knowledge you need. Where's the patient?" "At home. It's my daughter." "Oh my. Dylan, I assume?" "Unfortuantely yes." "What's the trouble?" "Are you familiar with her case?" "Yes, they called me in on the twins when they initially confessed about their home life." "Do you know that we recently discover that she was repeatedly raped by her father?" "No, I had no idea of that, she never showed any signs of…" "I know, she surpressed the memories. What worries me is that they came to life about a month ago, and she's not talking much, and barely eating. Have you got any ideas as to how we could help her? Therapy doesn't work for her, she just stares at the wall." She thought it over, calculating. She was a very smart woman, and compassionate. She loved her job, something you had to do when your specialty is working with abused children.

"Have you tried taking her to see them?" "What? The last time they saw her, they attacked her." "Exactly. Behind bars, kids react a lot differently when their abusers are threatening them or even looking at them. It's sometimes used in severe cases with no other options. But it's very effective to help remove the power that they have over the child." "Are you sure it could work?" "Every child is different, but it sounds like you're in need of something drastic. Time doesn't work for everybody. I've met kids still afraid of their abusers seven years after they're imprisoned." "I'll think about it. But I follow your logic." "Is the brother having problems like that?" "No, he's more worried about her than we are." "See what he thinks about it. Get his perspective." The intercom called several doctors to the ER, including Dr. Marvelo. "Thanks!" I called, and went back to my rounds. This was going to be discussed tonight.

Dylan, my zombie child, went to bed at around 9. Vincent was in his room already. I called for the non-humans of the house to come discuss.

"Carlisle, are you sure that's a good idea? What could that do to her? She's already damaged enough." "We don't need to do that to her, she just needs more time." "Time worked before, it could work again." "No." Alice said. "What?" "Time won't work again, if we keep moving down this path…" She didn't speak further, just looked at her shoes. "We can't let that happen." Edward said. They wouldn't elaborate further. It must be bad. "So if we do, when and how?" "Easy. We're going to bring her to the trial. But not the trial itself, just the final sentence. Vincent is testifying for two days this week, and then if the future goes steadily, they'll reach a verdict by Wednesday of next week." "Alice, are you positive? Vincent didn't think she should go to the trial." "That's the best outcome. The hearing. He's imprisoned for life, found guilty of every charge. All of his power over them will be stripped away. Later that night she'll have some sort of realization. That part's still hazy, but this is the best way." "We should inform Vincent anyway. If Alice said it would work out he would go along with it. He might not like it, but he will." Jasper stated.

"If you think it will work, do it. I'm desperate to have my sister back." Vincent replied anxiously. Wednesday. Vincent had been gone for a lot of the week in preparation of the trial, and so far everything was in the favor of the kids. The parents' lawyer did not do well. He had hardly any experience. Vincent was very good, at both speaking and getting the jury's sympathy, even if it was by accident that he chose to stop at the right time. But personally I think Alice had told him when.

It was Wednesday. I don't exactly know how, but Esme and Rosalie convinced Dylan to skip school to come, but I had the feeling they didn't tell her what she was coming to. The fearful look in her eyes as they nearly carried her by the elbows verified that. They sat her in between them, Rosalie's hand around her shoulders and Esme's around her waist. Holding her in place, she had a perfect view as they were brought out.

Every single accusation and crime he was accused of was found guilty. As they rattled off the extensive list, I watched Dylan blink twice as often, and refuse to look her father in the eye. He stared at the kids the entire time, but Vincent was mostly shielded by Emmett's muscle mass. I noticed the tremble in Dylan's frame, and Vincent's rod-like posture. Even now, he had an effect on them. The sentence was lifetime for both parents.

Dylan could not physically seem to be able to get up. "Emmett." I said. Quickly he picked her up by her elbows and we walked to the car. The drive home was completely silent. Someone, Edward I think, carried Dylan inside. Vincent was shaken up, as he had been every day after trial, and gone to his room to shower.

Dylan was on a sofa, with her knees pulled in to her chest. She was gently rocking back and forth. This was a coping mechanism I've seen before. Maybe it wasn't worth it. I feel as if we've broken what little trust she had left for us.

Once it hit 9:30 and Dylan still hadn't moved, my concern became evident. "Dylan, are you hungry? Will you eat something?" I asked gently. She slowly looked up, and shook her head. "Why don't you go to sleep for the night then, dear?" I said, disappointed that she still would not eat. She got up and headed to her room, seeming lost.

Soon she settled in for the night, and as I did after her first nightmare, I listened on her every move and vital sign. After what seemed to be the calmest thirty-seven minutes of the day, her breathing sped up, as did her heart rate, and she started stirring. Usually Edward got there first, seeing as he knew what she was seeing, and would wake her up. Tonight however, he seemed to let it go. "You need to do it." I heard him say from the kitchen, where he was fidgeting with food, for who I had no idea. However often Vincent came down for a midnight snack, Dylan's appetite was never present. But if tonight was going to be the turning point Alice predicted, she would definitely appreciate food.

"Daddy… daddy please… help…" Her cries were louder, more desperate. This was nothing she had ever said before. She never called him anything but Father, and she would never ask him for help. Her cries turned into screams, and I burst up the stairs to my small suffering angel.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello wonderful readers! Huge thank you for the reviews! So here's the thing. I'm having a bit of writer's block as to what should happen next. I'm open to suggestions and new ideas, from fluffy to serious. Anything helps! I'll give credit and shout-outs to the ones I use.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I found a little inspiration from an old story of mine and decided to go with it. Help is still appreciated. Thanks to all who reviewed, and sorry for the long wait. My chapters will not be nearly as long as the first. **

**Of course I don't own ****_Twilight, _****no matter how much I want to. :( **

Carlisle's POV

She was tangled in blankets and halfway on the floor, kicking and screaming. Vincent was at the door. "I've got her, you go to sleep." I said quickly. He looked regretful, but complied. "Dylan, sweetheart, wake up." I pulled her against my chest, and she immediately latched on to my shirt and started sobbing, "Don't let him get me. Please! I don't want to leave!" She was in hysterics. "Shhh, it's okay, no one is going to take you away. He will not get you if any of us have a say. You're safe, sweetheart, he's not here. Open your eyes."

She stared up at me with her tear-filled blue eyes. She started crying again, and I rocked her gently, humming. "You're okay, I've got you. No one will hurt you here." Once she calmed enough to speak, I heard exactly what I expected. "I need a shower." Her voice was raspy. "Okay, but don't take too long; you're eating when you come out." "Okay." She said quietly. I set her upright, and she scurried across her room, pulling out some pajamas. I knew what she dreamed of because of her desperate need to take a shower. Rape victims often attempted to scrub away the memories like they would their bodies; although the evidence was long gone, the memory would always remain.

When the water started running I went to see what Edward had made, checking my watch to assure she took no longer than twenty minutes. If she took too long, I'd send one of the girls to coax her out. She'd scrub herself raw if given the opportunity. Surprisingly, Alice had picked up Chinese and Edward made brownies. "It's her favorite" was the only response needed. "Her favorite Starbucks things are in the refrigerator, a bit melted though, I had to drive far to find one still open." Edward said. "Such a good big brother." I said. "And to think, she thought I hated her in the beginning." He replied.

The water stopped after eighteen minutes, and I heard her quickly getting dressed. The way she was furiously brushing her hair told me she was still upset. Rosalie knocked on her door. "Dylan, I'll do your hair, just come downstairs." She seemed to comply; the door opened and I heard her bare feet come down the stairs with Rosalie in tow. She came to the kitchen, and Alice directed her to a seat at the counter, placing the plate in front of her. She ate slowly but she ate, which thrilled me. Once she finished, she asked for more, which plastered a smile on my face. Alice looked pleased as she placed more orange chicken and fried rice on her plate.

Once she was satisfied, she went to get up and put her plate in the sink, but Alice did it before she could even get up. She looked a bit disgruntled about it, but Alice just stuck out her tongue playfully. "Dylan, would you like to talk about it?" I asked gently. She started trembling. "N-n-n-o." She stammered. "Okay, but we're all here if you want to okay?" She nodded quickly, and the tear that slipped out the corner of eye told me she really wasn't ready yet. "Do you want to go back to sleep?" I asked. "No!" she said loudly. "Okay, that's fine, you don't need to. How about some TV?"

She picked some crime show. Alice looked upset by her choice, and tried to persuade her to pick something else. "Why? Just tell me." Dylan replied. At that moment, the show concluded that the young boy had been sexually and physically abused by his father. The way Dylan's breathing and heartbeat changed indicated that she was affected by the information. She pulled her legs in and hid her head behind her knees. Was this show going to send us back to where we were before?

"He was raping me." She whispered, so low that it would be inaudible to human ears. "I didn't know where I was. Someone was banging on the door, yelling my name and it sounded like y-y-you." She was sobbing again, and I pulled her back against me. "Well, that's not going to happen. I'd break the entire wall down to get to you. Not that he'd ever even have a chance of getting within ten yards of you." "He did in the courtroom!" She cried. "Yes, he did. But there was nothing he could have done with all of us there. He was in handcuffs and will be in prison for the rest of his life. There's no reason for you to fear him any longer. He's convicted and you have your family here to keep you safe. Nothing will change that."

She sniffled, and reached for me. Quickly, I pulled her on my lap and she cried on my shoulder. I rubbed her back gently and let her cry. She needed to cry. It was good that Jasper, Bella, Esme, and Emmett were hunting. Jasper would try to ease her pain, which would only come back when he wasn't around. Emmett would be furious at her dream. Bella and Esme would try to push the information out, which would only make her cower back into her protective cocoon of numbness. I looked at Alice. "You planned this." I said, too low for Dylan to hear. "Not like this. I just knew who needed to be here and who shouldn't. Everything else just happened. I knew it would be today but that's it." After Edward confirmed, I noticed that Dylan was asleep. "Pictures!" Rosalie said. She got a camera and her cell phone and much to my dismay, took about a thousand pictures of me and the sleeping, emotionally-drained Dylan. "Who are the brownies for?" I asked Edward. "Vincent." In about thirty seconds, Vincent came down, and didn't even look at us as he headed straight to the kitchen. I chuckled; he was a black hole, and would eat anything, yet Edward had made him brownies.

"I'm going to go put her in bed." I carried her up the stairs, and placed her gently on her bed. After pulling the blanket over her, I kissed her forehead and went back downstairs. "Vincent, don't eat them all tonight." I called towards the kitchen.

"Well?" I asked. "I've seen two outcomes. Either tomorrow, she'll be a bit embarrassed. Don't push her, don't say anything, but give her breakfast, not a shake. Ask her if she wants to go to school, don't assume. If she says no, call in sick. The other is that she wakes up from another nightmare in about three hours and makes herself sick. If that happens, she'll be sick for at least half the week, and need you home for support. That one put the house in chaos. Either way you don't go to work." Alice said. I wonder what tomorrow will bring.


End file.
